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STATEMENT OF TED STRONG, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, COLUMBIA 

 RIVER INTER-TRIBAL FISH COMMISSION 



Mr. Strong. Mr. Chairman, and members of the committee, good 

 morning. It is a pleasure to be here in behalf of our four tribes: the 

 Yakima in the State of Washington, the Nez Perce in the State of 

 Idaho, the Warm Springs and the Umatilla in the State of Oregon. 

 Long before there were tribes and before there were States, there 

 was nature; and in this natural setting everything flourished with- 

 out words of a human being. Later came laws from mankind that 

 tended or pretended to govern how life should be upon this earth. 



That was the beginning of the destruction of what we know and 

 what we call the pristine beauty in the Northwest, and today it is 

 incumbent upon each of you to try and measure and calculate the 

 best possible restoration and recovery plans for many of these spe- 

 cies that have become endangered, some which have become ex- 

 tinct. It is not with any kind of exaggeration that Indian people say 

 we were close to being upon that list. 



When the salmon were being destroyed by the development in 

 the Northwest and when the non-Indian peoples began to explode 

 in population numbers, the salmon began to decline. Along with 

 that decline, the population of Indian peoples declined. By your 

 own records, it states very clearly that at the turn of the century 

 there were approximately 60,000 of our tribal members. 



With the disappearance of the salmon and with the destruction 

 of the natural beauty, our numbers have dwindled down to ap- 

 proximately 17,000 today. Conversely, you look at what the non- 

 Indian population is, you look at the industry that has been built 

 upon what people take great pride in or suggest that there is pride 

 in looking upon the Columbia and its tributaries. 



When Lewis and Clark arrived, it is measured that Indian people 

 were taking approximately 2.5 million salmon from the rivers. In 

 consideration of your questions, which we appreciate because it 

 demonstrates your understanding of the issue about the recovery 

 and restoration efforts, when the Salmon Summit began, our har- 

 vest had dropped down to approximately 104,000 in the lone com- 

 mercial fishery we have left. 



Since then, in 1991 our commercial harvest dropped down to 

 48,000, in 1992 it dropped down to 28,000. In this current year that 

 we are living in, it will drop down to 25,000 for those 17,000 tribal 

 members, and when we look at the multi-billion dollar industries 

 who, looking at their bottom line, there are very few of those big 

 industries that have suffered in the kinds of losses, human life 

 being the greatest, that Indian people have. We have suffered prop- 

 erty losses, the dams have destroyed our fishing sites, perhaps for- 

 ever. 



Along with that, the displacement of human life to other kinds of 

 vocations without economic transition assistance from the Federal 

 Government, without any apologies that we hear that are being of- 

 fered to the other countries and other cultures that the United 

 States helped to destroy. We made do on our own, and today when 

 we are asked about the recovery program, we don't take great de- 

 light in hearing of the many processes that have been put in place. 



